2017 Tangaroa Blue Spring Newsletter

Dear Visitor,

Welcome to the spring edition of the Tangaroa Blue Newsletter. The Tangaroa Blue crew are grabbing a quick breather after a huge winter clean-up season up in Cape York and getting ready for a busy summer season starting off with the WA Beach Clean-up in October. Check out our online calendar and Facebook page to keep up to date with what's happening around the country!

WA Annual Beach Clean Up

Now in its 13th year, the Annual WA Beach Clean Up is happening again. On the weekend of 14th - 15th October people all over Western Australia will be taking part in the largest collective coastal clean-up in the state!

Cape York season 2017

What a haul! This year Tangaroa Blue, Traditional Owners, Indigenous Rangers, Junior Rangers, school children and volunteers visited 4 locations around Cape York: Captain Billy’s Landing, Chilli Beach, Mapoon and Somerset. Together, the teams tirelessly scoured 28.4 kilometres of beach, removing a staggering 12.9 tonnes of rubbish from the environment. Chilli Beach set a record this year, over 7 tonnes collected from just this location, the largest ever clean-up Tangaroa Blue has done. All told, 16,311 plastic drink bottles were found, as well as 9,949 rubber thongs and 40,232 plastic bottle caps and lids.

Each team did an incredible job, and we are truly thankful for each and every volunteer that contributes their time and efforts to this important action. We simply could not do it without you!

Here is a poem, written by our very special volunteer Sue Hayes from the Chilli Beach clean-up which sums it up perfectly!

Sea Store

To celebrate the 2017 Cape York Clean-up events, we have created an event t-shirt. Made out of 100% organic cotton this limited edition t-shirt is now being sold on pre-order for $30 + postage. To order your t-shirt and also check out our other Tangaroa Blue merchandise, items to help you live a little less plastic in your lives, clean-up kits and even marine debris art supplies visit our Sea Store. All profits from sales are used to help us keep removing and reducing marine debris from our environment.

Behind the Scenes

Ever wonder what Tangaroa Blue does behind the scenes? We take our motto – if all we do is clean up that’s all we’ll ever do – very seriously. In addition to coordinating these massive clean-up events, our Managing Director Heidi Taylor, has been ensuring that marine debris and plastic pollution are included in local, state, federal and international forums.

In July, Traditional Owners, scientists, researchers and government agencies were invited by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority to take place in the Reef Summit. These marine experts had one goal in mind, building the resilience of the Great Barrier Reef into the future in context of a changing climate. Ensuring marine debris is reduced will take a large amount of pressure off our stressed marine environment.

In August, Tangaroa Blue Directors Heidi Taylor and Peter Cochrane participated in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) forum in Sydney. Goal number 14 is to Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources with the first target in this goal stating: "By 2025, prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, in particular from land-based activities, including marine debris and nutrient pollution."

The Australian Marine Debris Database is a vital tool in guiding actions that reduce marine debris in Australia, but also to be able to monitor the success of strategies that are implemented to stop the flow of rubbish into our oceans in the first place.

Notice is given that Tangaroa Blue Foundation Ltd ACN 138 636 521 will hold our 2017 Annual General Meeting on October 16th at the Margaret River Community Resource Centre, 33 Tunbridge Street, Margaret River, WA 6285 from 7-9pm. All members and guests are invited.

Joining the meeting via Skype will be possible for those that aren't able to attend in person. Please RSVP to info@tangaroablue.org by October 14th. Thank you!

Operation Clean Sweep

Thanks to the support of the Victorian Government's Litter Hotspot Program and the Western Australian Government’s State Natural Resource Management Program WA, Tangaroa Blue was able to bring Operation Clean Sweep to Australia. By partnering directly with plastic manufacturers, we are reducing a major source of plastic marine debris. To see one company's journey to Zero Pellet Loss see the fantastic video made by our friends at Streamline Media Australia here: https://youtu.be/r_1ypl9tQZc

Don't forget that Tangaroa Blue Foundation is a registered charity and gratefully accepts donations, which are 100% tax deductible. Donate today and help us continue our work!

Thanks for all your support and look forward to seeing you on the beach soon!